Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments

Does the mind reflect or dictate what the body sees and feels? What is the language of emotion? Is memory a function of our imaginations? Are we all just out of our minds?

In this ambitious and enlightening work, Diane Ackerman combines an artist's eye with a scientist's erudition to illuminate the magic and mysteries of the human brain. With An Alchemy of Mind, she offers an unprecedented exploration of the mental fantasia in which we spend our days. In addition to explaining memory, thought, emotion, dreams, and language acquisition, Ackerman reports on the latest discoveries in neuroscience and addresses such controversial subjects as the effects of trauma, nature versus nurture, and male versus female brains. In prose that is not simply accessible but also beautiful and electric, Ackerman distills the hard, objective truths of science in order to yield vivid, anecdotal explanations about a range of existential questions regarding consciousness and the nature of identity.

Review

Review

"A love song to the brain...combines flights of lyricism and autobiographical reflection with a cooler, more cerebral amalgam of science, anthropology, psychology, history, and literature."

-- Francine Prose, More magazine

Review

"Evocative and meaningful."

-- Carl Zimmer, The Washington Post

Review

"Ackerman [is] our poetic chronicler of the natural world."

-- Chicago Tribune

Synopsis

From the bestselling author of "A Natural History of the Senses" "comes a playful, rewarding jaunt through the brain's chemical realities and emotional intangibles" ("Kirkus Reviews").

About the Author

Diane Ackerman is a naturalist and poet and the author of ten books of literary nonfiction, including A Natural History of the Senses, A Natural History of Love, and Cultivating Delight. Also the author of six volumes of poetry and several nonfiction children's books, she contributes to The New York Times, Discover, National Geographic, Parade, and many other publications. Ackerman lives in Ithaca, New York.

Table of Contents

Contents

Miracle Waters

(Evolution)

Chapter 1. The Enchanted Loom

Imagining the brain.

Chapter 2. This Island Earth

Evolution; the world's tiniest reptile; our brain and other animals'.

Chapter 3. Why We Ask "Why?"

What happens in the right brain vs. the left brain; why we're driven to tell stories.

Chapter 4. The Fibs of Being

Consciousness; some definitions and theories.

Chapter 5. Light Breaks Where No Sun Shines

The unconscious; how it collaborates with the conscious mind.

Sweet Dreams of Reason

(The Physical Brain)

Chapter 6. The Shape of Thought

Neurons, dendrites, axons; how all the parts speak to each other.

Chapter 7. Inner Space

Synapses, the plasticity of the brain; how we influence brain development; medication and the brain.

Chapter 8. Attention Please

How we unconsciously choose what to pay attention to; multitasking; absentmindedness.

Chapter 9. A Passion for Patterns

How our brain quests for meaning in what it senses.

Chapter 10. In the Church of the Pines

The spiritual brain.

Chapter 11. Einstein's Brain

What happened to it? Was it different?

Chapter 12. The Mind's Eye

The brain's ability to imagine/see things that aren't in view at the time.

Pavilions of Desire

(Memory)

Chapter 13. What Is a Memory?

The importance of memory to who we are; how memories are formed; how they're influenced.

Chapter 14. Reflections in a Gazing Ball

How memories are recalled; association of pain and memory; unconscious memory.

Chapter 15. Remember What?

What happens when we learn; words on the tip of the tongue; Alzheimer's and the aging brain; IQ; short-term vs. long-term memory; how memories affect the present.

Chapter 16. Remember, I Dream

The role of dreams in memory.

Chapter 17. "Hello," He Lied

True and false memories; subliminally influencing thought and memory.

Chapter 18. Traumatic Memories

How they're stored and recalled; connections between emotions and memory.

Chapter 19. Smell, Memory, and the Erotic

Proust; perfume; love.

Never a Dull Torment

(The Self, and Other Fictions)

Chapter 20. Introducing the Self

How we think of ourself; the multiple facets of a self.

Chapter 21. The Other Self

Body and mind; immune system and brain; brain damage and loss of self.

Chapter 22. Personality

Nature vs. nurture; genetics and experience; development as babies.

Chapter 23. "Shall It Be Male or Female? Say the Cells"

Male and female brains; if they work differently; how they're shaped; how traits get passed on.